Fourth of July Fun
by mangawolfgirl96
Summary: The Hizuris invite Kyouko and Ren to their home in California for the Fourth of July. While there, Ren and Kyouko have some fun with fireworks. T to be safe. No longer a one-shot.
1. Chapter 1

The Hizuri couple had invited both Kyouko and Ren to spend the Fourth of July with them at their home in California.

Kyouko immediately accepted their invitation. Though, her Otou-san had to explain exactly what the Fourth of July was and what they did to celebrate, this led to a few choice items being packed into her suitcase.

Ren was torn. He wanted to go back and spend one of his favorite holidays as a child with his parents, but with Kyouko there, he wouldn't be able to really relax. He worry was unfounded.

Kyouko looked at the boxes upon boxes the Hizuri had stored in their garage in amazement. Her adoptive parents had told her buying fireworks was unnecessary because they had some to spare, but for Kyouko's point of view they had enough to for the whole state, if not the west coast. Of course, she asked them about it and the couple's response was immediate.

"Kuon was quite the pyro. We had to be careful when he was real young so he didn't burn everything in sight," Julie Hizuri said, laughing.

Ren wanted to protest that, but couldn't without exposing himself. He cursed his mother's love of embarrassing him in front of other people. In his childhood, it had just been her or his friends and he'd kick up a fuss, making his irritation known. But doing in front of Kyouko when he couldn't protest was completely unforgivable in Ren's mind.

Kyouko on the other hand found the trait endearing. The image of a perfect older brother was intimidating, and even something little like a tiny obsession with fire made him that much closer.

Before long it was dark and time to start setting off fireworks, but first, Kyouko had to retrieve her few choice items.

Ren was puzzled by Kyouko's sudden glee, as she came down the stair, holding a small shopping bag. He shivered as Kyouko smiled at him. It wasn't happiness that comes from being with family and friend that Kyouko was feeling; it was the evil glee you felt after killing the person that you hated.

Fuwa had a concert that day in Tokyo didn't he? That meant he wasn't in the US and out of Kyouko's reach. So he wasn't dead, then why was Kyouko so eerily happy?

His answer came when Kyouko took a whole box of firecrackers and duct-taped them to a crying Fuwa doll. When Kyouko went to light all the fuses—there were somewhere around 20-30 fuses—Ren offered to help with the spare lighter. He and Kyouko took great pleasure in lighting the firecrackers, and standing back to watch the doll be burned, scorched and blown to bits.

Though, when he spotted Kyouko duct taping two whole packages of Zingers to a horrified Fuwa doll, Ren stopped her. They had been a favorite as a kid and he had tried taping four together with the help of his mother. It had ended with both of them dodging out of the way of two Zingers each.

"Let me," he said softly but firmly, taking the duct tape and fireworks from her gently. Ren was careful to tape them all fuse side down and centered on the doll's back, not all around like how Kyouko had been doing it.

With a quick stand back, he light the fuses and moved himself and Kyouko back to where his parents were sitting, a good thirty feet from the doomed doll.

True to their name, the Zingers shot off the damp grass, taking the doll with them. Said doll was a spinning multicolored inferno going up about forty feet and dropping, brunt to a crisp, about 80 from where it was shot off.

"Can we do that again?"Kyouko asked eagerly.

Ren chuckled and twirled the lighter like cowboys twirled their pistols in old westerns. "Anytime for you, Miss." And he truly enjoyed himself doing that again with almost the rest of the remaining Fuwa dolls.

By about two am, there was one doll left and the Hizuri couple brought out a finale. Ren held the doll to the capsule while Kyouko duct taped them together, and he carefully placed it in the firing tube. Together Kyouko and Ren light the fuse, neither realizing just how much they looked like a couple nor that Julie took a picture.

They made their way back to the two empty chairs beside the Hollywood couple and watched as yet another Fuwa Shou doll was blown to bits.

All four of them stayed out to watch all the other firework displays. Around four am, they made the unanimous decision to go back inside and get some sleep. Ren glanced at Kyouko and smiled softly seeing she was out cold, a peaceful expression on her face.

Instead of waking her, Ren gently picked her up and carried her inside. His father opened the front door and Kyouko's door for him, a wide grin stretched across his face and a knowing twinkle in his eye.

Ren groaned quietly after, shutting Kyouko's door. His father was never, ever going to let him live this down.

* * *

A/n

The idea of blowing up Shou dolls came from a few years back when my brother and I tried to decimate a barbie doll. Unfortunately it survived with minimal damage.

Have a happy Fourth of July!


	2. Fourth of July Fun 2011

Hey readers! I've haven't uploaded anything for a while, and probably won't for a while after this unless I suddenly find my Skip Beat! muse again. Anyway have a happy Independence Day and enjoy! :) ~ mwg96

* * *

Once again back on the family homestead with his kouhai on Independence Day, Ren was more than a little cautious around his parents. Kuu wouldn't stop nagging him about making Kyouko a permanent member of the family and Julie had backed him up, threatening the younger actor with the picture she took last year. He'd managed to forestall this long with the young actress's love-phobia, but if he could see the small cracks forming in her armor, so could his parents.

They'd given him an ultimatum: make his move or they were starting on the adoption proceedings, even if she would only be a minor for another four and a half months. Thus he and Kyouko had flown to California a week before the national holiday, and he'd had six days since the announcement to make said move. It was left unsaid that he had chickened out at every opportunity. So what did his incredibly irritating parents do? They had set up a ploy so that the two Japanese actors would end up alone together at the Hizuri private stretch of beach along the coast, not too far from the mansion. There was even a little trail that led down to the water from the bottom of the back porch steps.

It was just before dark when Kuu put his plan into action, mentioning to his future daughter-in-law that there had been reports of mermaid sightings a few years back down at their private beach and she'd almost been half way there by the time he mentioned it might be a good idea to take her senpai with her since trespassers had been known to wonder on the shore after dark and those kind of people weren't exactly "upstanding citizens."

The look Ren gave his father said clearly the other man was an idiot. Sometimes he was wistful to admit that Kyouko could take care of herself perfectly well: stalkers and rock stars included. A certain bleached-blonde had nearly thrown a fit when the actress had began to dissolve into giggles whenever she spotted the singer. It seemed last year's burn fest had therapeutic effects that were long term, and Ren did too find it hard not to at least smile when he caught sight of the brat.

Pushing away from the kitchen table, he gave his mum a parting kiss and jogged out the back sliding glass door, hitting the worn walking path at a good pace. The small forest that encompassed the mansion whizzed past as he went, but scarcely paid any heed to the terrain. His attention was fully focused on the hurried beat of footsteps ahead of him. Knowing the woman the way he did, Ren could easily Kyouko tripping over a root or rock and ending up with a broken ankle, but keep going because she wanted to see the mermaids. His father just had to exploit that one weakness of hers. The man had some halfhearted thoughts of giving the older man food poisoning. Or a hearty helping of laxatives. Now, that was if he could get his mother or Kyouko to help since he wasn't allowed in the kitchen anymore. One tiny oil fire and suddenly he was blacklisted. Women _always_ overreacted.

His sandals hit sand and Ren slowed, glancing up and down the beach for a glimpse of the raven haired actress. He nearly toppled over his own feat as he caught sight of a lithe figure splashing in the shallows. Her pink flip-flops were discarded along with a pair of towels higher on the beach while the amber eyed woman danced in the water with imaginary mermaids and ocean sprites. Her sunny skirt was gathered in one hand, the other dragged through the water in innocent joy. Settling on the larger of the two towels that she had laid out before going into the water, Ren watched the woman of his dreams with pure adoration and wonder. Only Kyouko could enter show business and still have her optimistic view of the world intact. Well, mostly intact. She still didn't particularly like or trust musicians, but that was to be expected after such a harsh rejection, especially when it hadn't been to her face.

In time though, the young woman would come to forgive Fuwa, it was just the kind of person she was, but Ren wouldn't. He knew firsthand how much she had worshiped her childhood friend, and the mere fact he'd thrown it back into her face without any remorse lit a fire under the actor's fury. He would certainly prefer to light the brat on fire, but that was heavily frowned upon by both the American and Japanese governments and he had to be good now. Unfortunately.

Kyouko had been so enchanted by the shimmering waves in the early dusk that it was only after the moon was high in the sky and she had tired from frolicking in to sea to notice her audience of one. The amber eyed woman was positive she had a fierce blush in her cheeks as her gaze met Ren-san's. She hesitated before walking over to take a seat on the towel beside her senpai.

The silence between them stretched on until the younger actress couldn't stand it and resolved to make small talk. "Kaa-san and Tou-san packed some fireworks and a lighter in my tote bag."

"Yeah?" he asked, slightly curious.

"Uh-huh. A pack of sparklers, a few fountains, two tanks, and two packages of those Zingers."

Ren examined the bag she proudly held out with thinly veiled amusement and pleasure. His parents had gotten him a few of his favorites, besides those his kohai had named, and a finale that had a label that warned of dire consequences if set off before, at the earliest, midnight. He'd bet every last cent he had to his stage name that his parents had added a little "extra surprise," although he wasn't sure what. He was leaning towards unneeded congratulations or the exposure of his feelings. Of course he could always claim it was a hoax, but Kyouko was often perceptive at the worst of times. If he tried to pull the wool over her eyes when she'd already seen, he'd been in bigger trouble than he was now. Like he needed that with both his parents', Yashiro's, and Kotonami-chan's needling. If even Kyouko's prickly best friend was pestering the actor to ask the younger woman out, Ren should have been fairly confident his lady love would accept, but as usual when it came to the raven haired woman, he was never sure about anything. Banishing such depressing thoughts on a happy holiday, Ren pulled the package of sparklers out with a grin and the amber eyed woman returned his grin with a smile of her own, holding the lighter.

It was easy enough to tear the plastic packaging and Kyouko was more than happy to light a sparkler for him and then light her own with the sparks from his. They contented to watch the spark fall to the sand for a while, and then the end of Kyouko's fell off and Ren had to bite his lip to keep from laughing at her crestfallen expression. She promptly lit another sparkler and moved to shower the actor with the white sparks. Of course knowing exactly what those sparks would do to his skin and hair, Ren shuffled out of range, realizing his mistake only after seeing the wicked sheen of amber spheres. He quickly scrambled off the towel—socks and shoes abandoned and buried in sand somewhere—and hobbled towards the ocean, feebly trying to roll up his pant legs while running. He managed to get the cuff of his jeans above his knees and waded into the water, glancing periodically over his shoulder to check his kohai's distance. The raven haired actress paused just out of reach of the waves and smirked at him, taking refuge from a pitiful sparkler in the water.

"Chicken," she called tauntingly.

Ren crossed his arms over his chest, waiting until the sparkler went out before walking calmly out of the water, his face an impassive mask. The actress watched him warily, trying to guess at her senpai's thoughts. They became apparent however, when a small half grin broke through as he drew closer. Kyouko knew exactly what Ren-san was going to try and turned to run, but wasn't fast enough to escape the arm that snaked around her waist. She couldn't help the squeal that escape her lips as she was hefted over a wide shoulder and taken into the deeper water and gingerly dropped. Spluttering water at the laughing man, Kyouko splashed him in the face with the salt water and stood, glaring. "That was uncalled for."

"Hey, all's fair in love and war." Immediately regretting the words that had tumbled out of his mouth without any prior thought, Ren ignored his slip up as he escorted the drenched actress out of the water, careful to keep his eyes in front or on her face. It was glaringly obvious what color and style under garments she wore and he hoped there was a change of clothes in that tote bag of hers. Thankfully there was, and he promptly held up a towel for her to change behind and stare intently at the ocean for the next five minutes. When he lowered the towel Ren was amused to find her dressed in a far too large I love New York t-shirt and a pair of black shorts. She pulled her shoulder length hair into a loose pony tail at the nape of her neck and glared at him for a moment before retrieving more fireworks from her tote.

They then battled with tanks, watched fountains release multicolored sparks, sent Zingers flying back towards the mansion, watched Ground Bloom Flowers spin on the sand, shot off Roman Candles, and finally settled back on the towels to watch the finale. Well, Kyouko settle on her towel at Ren-san's insistence as the tall man inserted the canister into the firing tube and lit the fuse. He'd starting walking back when the firework exploded in the sky behind him and Kyouko stared owlishly at the pink, English writing there.

Turning a fierce shade of red for the second time, she refused to look at the sky or the man who had turned around to see what the firework had said. Hopefully, he didn't see it or couldn't read English. She made a mental note to tell both her adoptive parents she didn't appreciate a firework encouraging to her kiss her senpai, especially when there was a chance Ren-san would see it.


	3. Fourth of July Fun 2011 part 2

Ren stared at the fading pink sparks as he struggled to comprehend exactly _who_ the message was for. All it had said was "Go for the Kiss!" While he assumed it was meant as an encouragement to him, the wording was just a touch too vague for his liking. But now he knew why his parents had insisted on lighting the finale off so late. The awkward silence would only last until they got back to the house and spill over into the next week or so. Would probably fade completely after, oh, ten, twenty years. Maybe never.

If Kyouko could read English that is. Ren wasn't sure how fluent she was anymore. He'd seen her chatting with the housekeeper and the gardener, but they both spoke fluent Japanese so that didn't mean anything. He just hoped no one had tutored her in English during her visits to his parents' house. The amber eyed actress visited three times a year, more if her schedule permitted. It had gotten to the point that his parents almost saw her more than he did now that she had gotten famous.

Because no matter how competent a manager Yashiro was, even he couldn't arrange Ren's schedule for a daily Kyouko pilgrimage.

As her sempai's mind spun with the possibilities, Kyouko wallowed in her embarrassment and slight anger towards her pseudo-mother. She'd told the woman in the strictest confidence about her feelings towards her sempai. The actress had expected to be the object of Okaa-san's matchmaking schemes, but this—_this_ was way beyond Kyouko's wildest expectations.

And hadn't she made it expressly clear that she didn't _want _to be in love with such an unreachable person whom she would eventually have to separate with? She was the kind of person who loved to show affection and tell people how much she loved them. She'd give herself away at some point or another and she wouldn't be able stay beside her kind, gentle sempai anymore. There was no way someone as great as Ren would ever be interest as a newbie actress just beginning to become popular.

Kyouko pushed those thoughts to the back of her mind and focused on shaking the sand off her towel before rolling it up. She decided to ignore the message from her well-meaning, but hopelessly romantic pseudo-mother unless Ren-san brought it up. And if he did, she'd lie through her teeth and tell him it was all a misunderstanding. The amber eyed actress wouldn't be able to handle the cold rejection in his eyes when her beloved sempai found out about her feelings. So she would pretend they didn't exist, pretend it didn't hurt to be so close but so far away.

She turned her flip-flops upside down to get rid of the sand before slipping them on her feet. After a moment, Ren-san did the same and rolled up his towel, stuffing it into her tote bag before wordlessly handing it to her. Kyouko stuffed her own towel inside, staring at her feet and wondering if her sempai was waiting for her to break the silence.

Ren decided to just shoot himself in the foot already and at least try to start conversation. "Well, that was certainly different from last year's finale."

Kyouko nodded in agreement. "Nowhere _near_ as fun as blowing up Shou dolls. Then again, I don't think anything can top that." _Expected maybe kissing you_, her treacherous mind supplied, and the actress wanted to sigh. Or cry. Or just scream in frustration. Maybe a bit of all three, but that didn't matter right now because she couldn't do anything but pretend it was alright. That she was alright. That the firework had been a mistake, meaning nothing.

The brunette hadn't known something as vitalizing as acting could hurt so much.

"True," Ren said quietly, allowing them to lapse into silence again. He'd meant to get her talking about this year's finale, but if she wanted to ignore it, that was fine with him. It was a bit disheartening, but he'd rather be a coward than never being able to stand beside the woman he loved again without making her uncomfortable.

"Why don't we head back?"

The actor nodded his agreement and the two slowly headed for the trail, very conscious of how close they were. They walked slowly, occasionally glancing at one another out of the corner of their eyes, but they didn't say anything, leaving the silence awkward and almost unbearable.

* * *

Julie watched her two beautiful children walk out of the trees from the sliding glass door and tried not to sigh. They were both brilliant and wonderful, but, really, did she have to get a permanent marker and write their feelings on their foreheads for them to finally, _finally_ get together? The blonde was certainly starting to think so.

Kuu had been insistent that the adoption ploy would've been enough to motivate Kuon into action, but, from the awkwardness plainly visible between Kyouko and her sempai, it obviously hadn't. Now Julie was left without many options to get her children together since her big plan of attack, the finale, had failed terribly and had resulted in this stupid little standoff, each of them worrying that the other will see that their feelings are more than just friends and that by falling in love with the other they've doomed themselves to some kind of lonely torture of being close but not close enough.

They were a pair of blind idiots. And sometimes Julie wondered if it was even worth trying anymore since they were so dead set against it, but she wouldn't give up. Not with her babies' happiness on the line.

She opened the door as the actors reached the edge of the porch and leaned against the frame. "Have fun, kids?"

"Of course," her son replied, smiling at her brightly. Her eventual-daughter-in-law flashed her a very similar smile that obviously stated that Kyouko was just as happy with Julie's interference as Kuon was.

They'd thank her for it eventually though. But they'd have to stop being stubborn first and actually _admit their feelings_. Only her children would end up as cowards in love, but Julie supposed it was understandable, considering their past experiences.

"Why don't we all have some ice tea before heading to bed?"

The couple-to-be opened their mouths to protest, but the tiny blonde was already ushering them into the kitchen and grabbing cups from the cabinets in passing. The two brunettes glanced at each other, wordlessly expressing their mutual exasperation. They wanted nothing more than to go to bed, _separately_, and never talk, let alone _think_, about the disaster the night had turned out to be.

"Now, who's going first?"

Kyouko stared at her pseudo-mother while Ren-san sighed, putting an elbow on the counter and a hand over his eyes.

Julie gave a long-suffering sigh. "You two have been dancing around each other for far too long. Everyone else can see it, but you two are too wrapped up in your own misconceptions to even _think_ your feelings are returned. So I say again, who's going first?" After a few moments of silence, the blonde offered, "I can leave you two alone if my presence is impeding either of your confessions."

As they continued to simply stare at her, Julie worriedly wondered if she'd broke her children.

* * *

A/N: Sorry this year's chapter is short. Thanks for reading!

Happy Independence Day to any Americans reading this!


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